50th Anniversary restoration of 100 Million Years BC

by Tremayne Miller

100 MILLION YEARS B.C.

Warning: the synopses can contain 'spoilers,’ therefore, please don’t read on if you wish the plots to remain a mystery!

DIRECTED BY DON CHAFFEY

STARRING RAQUEL WELCH (Legally Blonde, Bedazzled, The Three Musketeers) JOHN RICHARDSON (She, The 39 Steps) MARTINE BESWICK (From Russia With Love, Thunderball)

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. is a prehistoric adventure.

Akhoba, Chief of The Rock Tribe and his hunting party pass through volcanic wasteland.  Accompanying him are his sons,

Tumak and Sakana.

A wild boar falls into a trap, and Tumak claims its tusk as his reward after killing it.

The tribe feast on the roasted boar, and dominant member of the tribe feast on the animal.

Akhobas after devouring Tumak's meat has a fight with him.

Tamak falls from a cliff, at the same time Sakana makes a play for his wife, Nupondi,.

However, a bush is to cushion Tumak's descent, and as he comes to, he sets off on a journey after having been outcast by his family.

As he ventures further into the desert Tumak sees huge animal imprints belonging to a brontosaur and giant tarantula.

Bewildered he does stumble on, despite being deprived of food and drink. He makes it as far as a beach, then collapses.

The Shell Tribe women fish on this beach with spears. One of them, Loana, sees him and goes to his aide.

At which point a giant turtle appears, with the view to kill but The Shell people manage to steer it back into the sea.

The Shell tribe take Tamak back to their village where Loana nurses him back to health, so peaceful are they having learnt to pull together, and work on first principles in art and agriculture.

The film provided the world with ‘the most iconic bikini shot of all time’, which made the fur-clad Raquel Welch a star overnight.

A tale of man’s survival at the start of civilisation, where conflicting tribes - the Rock People and the Shell People combat ginormous prehistoric monsters, as well as each other, at the same time the earth continues to rise and produce bubbles of gas still in its volcanic form.

This the 100th production from Hammer was their biggest success, and the silverscreen's most notable dinosaur epic up until the release of Jurassic Park 26 years on thanks to its “stopmotion dinosaur animation” by special effects animator, Ray Harryhausen.

The 50th Anniversary special 4k restoration includes the following special features: interviews with Raquel Welch and Martine Beswick (two-time Bond girl), and the original artwork of Ray Harryhausen, as well as never-seen-before storyboards given to Studiocanal by The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation.

Extras will include: Special Features • New Interview with Raquel Welch • New Interview with Martine Beswick • Exclusive Ray Harryhausen stills, storyboard and artwork • Production stills gallery Blu-ray Tech Specs: TBC / DVD Tech Specs

The film was released on Doubleplay DVD & Blu-ray on October 24th by Studiocanal. 

 

© Writer Tremayne Miller

Tremayne Miller is a guest reviewer on LifestyleMK, Tuesdays 7pm.

Sid & Nancy - a review by film writer Tremayne Miller for LifestyleMK

by Tremayne Miller for LifestyleMK

Courtesy of Studio Canal

DIRECTED BY ALEX COX

SCREENPLAY BY ALEX COX and ABBE WOOL

STARRING

GARY OLDMAN, ANDREW SCHOFIELD, CHLOE WEBB, DAVID HAYMAN

and featuring COURTNEY LOVE, IGGY POP and KATHY BURKE

  

 SID & NANCY is ‘one of the defining films of the punk era..’

The Sex Pistols formed in London in 1975, and although they only really lasted for two and a half years and produced four singles, plus one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, they are deemed one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music. A legendary gig they gave on 4^th June, 1976 at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall caused a generation ‘to reject the established principles of making popular music,’ at which point performances began to mark the beginning of a seismic shift in youth culture. 

STUDIOCANAL marks the 30^th Anniversary of Sid and Nancy on their vintage classics label, with a new special-edition DVD/Blu-ray release on 29^th August.

Sid Vicious joined The Sex Pistols in 1977 as bass guitarist), embodying in his performances and personal life a hardcore punk-personality, where the music was taken to its ultimate extreme.

Alex Cox (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas) In 1986, co-wrote and directed SID & NANCY.

A vivid portrayal of a mutually destructive relationship, sex and drug fuelled in nature. There is a strong contrast between the noisy Punk scene, and the close, yet extremely intense relationship of two undeniably lost souls trapped in a set of circumstances they know not how to find themselves out of.

It was Gary Oldman's performance in Sid and Nancy which paved the way to Hollywood, with prominent United States film critic at the time Roger Ebert writing: ".. like a few gifted actors, [Oldman] is able to re-invent himself for every role.” Why, even band mate of Vicious, John Lydon despite his criticism of the film, described Oldman as a "bloody good actor.” For the role Oldman lost a considerable amount of weight, and ended up in hospital.

The Sex Pistols embark on a chaotic tour of the US, with Nancy in tow. It is absolutely disastrous, and results in the band breaking up.

A pitiful Sid is left helplessly searching after the split of the Sex Pistols.

Cox carefully depicts the miserable lives of Sid and Nancy through extended scenes set in the Chelsea Hotel in New York, where we feel a true sense of their immobile stupor, as well as their need for heroin and a further hit of “rock celebrity.”

Roger Deakins’ cinematography helps bring the vibrant streets of London and New York to life, showing that little has changed since the 1970s, even 1950s.

Vicious attempts a solo career, with Nancy acting as his manager, but both at this point are dangerously addicted to heroin.

 They continue on this downward spiral until October 1978, when Nancy is found stabbed at the Chelsea Hotel. Sid is arrested, accused of her murder but fatally overdoses before the case goes to trial. Could it be that his lost soul had to rejoin her’s?!

There is a cameo performance by Kathy Burke, who I have had the great honour of working with, and quite unbelievably, Courtney Love, whose own romance to the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain was also highly publicized.

Cobain like Vicious struggled with heroin addiction, chronic health problems, and depression. He also found it hard to cope with the level of fame his successes had reached , which impacted on his personal life, and on April 8, 1994, he was found dead, in what has been officially ruled as ‘a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.’

In 2009 film-maker, Alan G Parker released a documentary called Who Killed Nancy?, which considers the couple’s dealer as the murderer, and whilst that may be both films show punk to be a camouflage for ‘undiagnosed dysfunction.’

John Peel confessed ‘that when he first saw someone with a safety pin through his nose, it made him think of the young men doing National Service with him 20 years earlier who had to be restrained from mutilating themselves.’ And Oldman’s Sid, fearful, screaming in prison, made Peel’s memory filmicly true. The Sex Pistols’ “No Feelings again” is shown in the film to be the group’s most memorably momentous track.

With an original soundtrack which features punk and post-punk artists such as Joe Strummer (The Clash), and The Pogues..

Special Features on the DVD and Blu-ray Special Editions:

•   New interview with Cinematographer Roger Deakins

•   New interview with Director Alex Cox

•   New interview with Don Letts (Director, DJ and presenter of ‘Punk on Film’ at the BFI: Southbank)

•   Trailer

A new special edition DVD/Blu-ray available to buy from 29th

Tremayne Miller

August 2016

Writer © Tremayne Miller

Tremayne writes for HeyuGuys.com and often joins the LifestyleMK team on Tuesdays 7pm

Kids are growing up fast in Brotherhood writes LifestyleMK's Tremayne Miller

Tremayne Miller, Film Critic

by Tremayne Miller
Film Critic: LifestyleMK & HeyUGuys

Brotherhood

Dir: Noel Clarke

Screenplay: Noel Clarke

With: Noel Clarke, Olivia Chenery, Ashley Thomas, Nick Nevern, Steven Cree, Tonia Sotiropoulou, Arnold Oceng, Aaron Eaton.

Running time: 1 hr, 45 min

Initial release: 29 August, 2016

British multihyphenate, Noel Clarke returns with "Brotherhood” to complete The Kidulthood Trilogy Series.

The Trilogy began with "Kidulthood" in 2006, followed by "Adulthood" in 2008.

“Kidulthood” kickstarted what Complex UK coined as the "British hood film movement," which analysed the lives of a group of disillusioned teenagers within west London. Directed by Menhaj Huda, with a script written by Noel Clarke, who starred in the film, then went on to direct the sequel “Adulthood.” "Adulthood" (2008) picks up 6 years after "Kidulthood," and follows Clarke, who is released from prison after being found guilty of murder.

In "Brotherhood" Clarke reprises his role as the lead protagonist, Sam, which is scheduled for release in the UK to tie in with the 10-year anniversary release of the film "Kidulthood."

 “Brotherhood” is a powerful drama with the right balance of non-gratuitous violence and humour, a specific example of which is an “awkward comedy” moment, when Arnold Oceng, who plays Henry lies to his wife about who he’s on the phone to , and instead uses Tesco clubcard as a cover-up.  Comedy that’s written in such a way that it appears off-the-cuff is a high skill, and in heightened form scenarios are made much funnier as a result.

Before the private screening of “Brotherhood” got underway Noel Clarke, who introduces it says it felt like his debut, and that this time around it was about him collecting all the things from the other two movies that were right.

Echoes of Clarke being a father of three in real life are dotted throughout, one example being when Henry (Arnold Oceng) defends Sam from the baddies, leading them to believe that his son’s ninja turtle toy stowed underneath his non-gangster type jacket is a gun!

I was stunned to learn that “Brotherhood” is the only British Trilogy in existence but felt it a well put together movie in its own right, where one responds most favourable towards Sam, as if you are his  sidekick. Rest assured you will get up from your cinema seat with the biggest urge to immediately catch back to back the first two films in the sequence!'

 

The Guardian headline on 9 September reads ‘Brotherhood actor Aaron Eaton dies days after film's release.’ The 29-year-old played Teardrop in the third installment of The Kidulthood Films.

The cause of Eaton’s death remains unclear but the film’s director, Noel Clarke and the grime rapper Stormzy, who also appear in the movie, were among those to pay tribute.

Eaton, who lived in south London, was nominated for best actor prize at the International Achievement Recognition awards for the role he played in the 2015 British film Awol – Absent Without Love.

Brotherhood began its preview run on 28 August and grossed £971,000 in its first few days of release, with a total of£1.98 in the first week of opening.

c. Tremayne Miller

Film Writer Tremayne Miller reviews NERVE

Nerve 

By LifestyleMK's Film writer, Tremayne Miller

Nerve , directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, written by Jessica Sharzer.

 Starring Emma Roberts, Dave Franco and Juliette Lewis.  

The Hollywood Reporter writes ‘visually engaging if not very convincing,’ and I would happen to agree.

Nerve  is based on the 2012 debut don’t putdownable novel by Jeanne Ryan.

For fans of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games was originally a series of three adventure novels written by the American novelist Suzanne Collins. The series set in ‘The Hunger Games universe’ follows the young characters of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The novels – The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010) have all been developed into films, with the adaptation of Mockingjay split across two parts.

The universe, a dystopia, is set in Panem, a country consisting of the wealthy Capitol and twelve districts, each in various states of poverty.

Every year children are selected from each district to take part in an annual televised “death match” called The Hunger Games.

Another comparison can be made with 1988 film, Heathers, where two high school students (Winona Ryder and Christian Slater) unintentionally make suicide popular.

‘A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly.’

  Nerve tells the story of high school senior "Vee" (Roberts) who enters an online reality video game of “truth or dare” (minus the truth) called "Nerve" along with other player (Franco), and it isn’t long before the game escalates to the point where the series of levels become dangerous, at the same time each move they make is manipulated by a community of anonymous “watchers.”

 “Nerve” interestingly raises the question of ‘the obsession of social media’ within society, and teenagers who become so lonely that they remain penned up in their rooms, unable to properly develop much needed social skills in order to fully thrive in today’s world. Gradually, it would seem that social media has managed to change the course of DNA in our friendships, as the film proves to be the case.

Vee (Roberts), at first finds the game exhilarating but just how far will she go before she loses her “Nerve”?!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PR9MOPTI7g

Out 11 Aug 2016

© Tremayne Miller 

Tremayne Miller - Film exclusives

Lifestyle MK's Film Critic, Tremayne Miller has been hard at work bringing us her view on two recent releases: CRIMINAL and GOLDEN YEARS.

Criminal

Directors: Ariel Vromen

Writers: Douglas Cook, David Weisberg

Stars: Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman.

 Memories are “missionized” in Criminal,as an arguably ‘old-fashioned Cold War style conflict’ plays out, instead of the more pertinent terrorist drama we have become used to; where Kevin Costner is cast as a brain-damaged, sociopathic convict, who undergoes a brain transplant, taking on the memories of a dead CIA agent. In just three days he must unravel an international conspiracy, and in the process may come closer to understanding love.

The film also stars Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds.

Reynolds, the focus of the first part of the film, is on the way to hand over ransom money to a Dutch hacker unimaginatively named  “the Dutchman” (Michael Pitt), however, his location was only known to him. Therefore, to extract this vital piece of information, London CIA boss Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) turns to the expertise of neurosurgeon Dr. Franks, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who is able to carry out a procedure where memories are transferable from one person’s brain to another.

Such delicate information is thought to only be safe with a violent criminal, like that of Jerico Stewart (Costner), who, as a child, sustained an injury which left him incapable of feeling empathy.

Stewart able to recall Pope’s old address and security code, manages to break into his house and looks set to rape his widow wife, Jill (Gadot), that is until he is hit, suddenly, by a whirl of emotions unknown to him, which render him incapable of laying a finger on Pope’s wife or daughter, Emma (Lara Decaro).

The film echoes Clint Eastwood’s - Gran Torino and Face/Off (or ‘Volte Face’, as it is referred to in France), where I first watched it.

The “Bourne” films also come to mind, with the quick cuts between jumpy action and CCTV feeds,  achieved using handheld cameras. 

The film shows the sights of London off in an amazing light, in the same way that current Sky 1 Series, Lucky Man does; and there’s an impressive shoot-out scene on top of a moveable bridge on the way to City Airport.

Gal Gadot (Ryan Reynolds’s wife in the film), the forthcoming ‘Wonder woman’ puts in a respectable performance; and I am most impressed with Kevin Costner, who proves himself to be far from a one dimensional Actor, whose character becomes increasingly interesting as the monster in him begins to develop a conscience, while the (his) physical vessel remains unchanged, not, I would say,  unlike the story of Mary Shelly’s – Frankenstein.

Tommy Lee Jones, and Gary Oldman put in their usual reliable performances, this in part, because they have not succumbed to the hold, the power of Hollywood. 

The intricacies of the special effects, especially involved in the transplant scene remind me of those found in CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), the original Series, which in an enthralling way draws me in.

The script skillfully weaves its humour in and out, and there truly are some classical moments, for example, when Kevin Costner refers to the librarian as a “sugarpuss”, and in the Pharmacy when he questions his out-of-character politesse towards the Pharmacist, as he says “Cheers”!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNfRQ4NBjUU

UK film release: 15 April, 2016

Golden Years

Starring Bernard Hill, Virginia McKenna, Una Stubbs, Simon Callow, Phil Davis, Brad Moore, Alun Armstrong, Sue Johnson

The film depicts a group of colourful characters, who’ve lived life to the full, yet in private are tackling reoccurring issues. The fondness of the creators towards the characters is apparent, and undoubtedly they are held in high regard.

One cannot help but watch and feel an element of sympathy and pathos, as it reflects back to us what it means to be alive in raw and basic terms but with a sufficient smattering of humour deposited throughout.

The message “laughter is the best panacea” transcends throughout the entirety of the film.

From the outset we deem the film only suitable for a certain age group but as it unravels, we see that this is indeed not the case, and the subject matter is also relevant to the younger generation.

Despite Golden Years following an elderly couple forced into a retirement of crime as the pension crisis hits, it also deals with many other issues including - friendship, what it means to struggle financially, and the impact that illness has on our bodies as they deteriorate with the aging process; our contribution to society as we grow older, and the disenchantment we bear as we are seen as nothing more than collateral damage to the economic structure.

These relevant subjects are approached by the Writers in a humourously, gentle manner, embracing the fact that the aging society will encounter unavoidable issues.

What I have come to coin “The blue rinse scene” sees an ultra curious and seemingly ill Martha Goode, played by a brilliant Virginia McKenna, entering into her beloved husband, Arthur’s shed, depicted as ‘the man’s domain.’

She gazes around, looking for something out of the ordinary, then spots something in the corner, stashed underneath a blanket; and as she proceeds to lift it up she recognises the money case, the kind used by security services to transport large sums of money around.

However, as human nature gets the better of her at the thought of being in the possession of a huge sum, she clicks the case open, and in so doing covers herself in blue dye.

Martha's strands of hair as she stands upright are now a powdery blue, whilst a stream of indigo flows down one side of her face, all the while the household cat remains in its basket, completely oblivious, void of any emotion. Although the scene lasts but seconds, it is priceless!

If this film sought the advice of a doctor, it would prescribe the drug of humour every time!!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3ma8xh59dE


UK film release: 29 April, 2016.

© Tremayne Miller